Jeff Heller
David Alan Grier is a multifaceted entertainer who has been delighting audiences for over four decades. He gained widespread recognition as a cast member on the groundbreaking ‘90s sketch comedy show In Living Color. He continued to make his mark on television with roles in series like Martin, Life with Bonnie, The Carmichael Show, and A Series of Unfortunate Events.
In film, Grier has showcased his range in both comedic and dramatic roles, including performances in Boomerang (1992), Jumanji (1995), Baadasssss! (2003), The Color Purple (2023), and The American Society of Magical Negroes (2024).
In addition to his film and television work, Grier won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role in A Soldier’s Play (2021) and has received additional Tony nominations for The First (1983), Race (2009), and Porgy and Bess (2012).
Grier can currently be seen as Dr. Ron, the seasoned though slightly jaded ER doctor in the hit NBC comedy, St. Denis Medical. The series, which was co-created by Eric Ledgin and Justin Spitzer, follows an eclectic group of underfunded, yet dedicated, doctors and nurses who navigate caring for patients while keeping it all together at an Oregon hospital.
We spoke with Grier about his character, the series’ mockumentary format, and what he hopes to see out of Ron in season two.
What drew you to the character of Ron?
Well, his natural sexiness, abs, and his dad bod. That’s clearly relevant. To be honest, I think in the logline was something like ‘Burned out older doctor.’ My dad was a doctor. I grew up in a community of doctors. My dad was a psychiatrist, so as a pesky teenager, whenever I’d be like, “Hey, dad, does LSD make you insane?” he’d just roll his eyes and say, “I don’t know, maybe.” So, there’s a lot of that. Ron is put out. I think at one time he was a true believer in the system and in healing through hospital administration as a whole. He was on the vanguard, and now he’s kind of been beaten back. But at the end of the day, I think Ron is a very good doctor and rooted in reality. He’s just trying to help his patients. He’s not trying to increase his social media presence or really expand into Dr. Ron’s health products or Dr. Ron’s surgical clinics. He’s just an old school doctor, and I think that’s really what he expects most in his career.
I feel like we’ve just kind of scratched the surface of Ron. Is there more of a backstory that we haven’t seen yet that you’re aware of?
Listen, man, Ron could have been a male model in his younger days. You’re like, “What? What are you talking about?” Oh, yeah. Ron could have been anything. I think you could find an old picture of Dr. Ron, and be like, “Oh, my God, you were a merchant seaman?” There’s a lot of zealots in Ron, and I do love that. Like, when you’re sitting next to someone for a whole year, and you find out Mrs. Rothstein used to be a belly dancer.
How do you think St. Denis Medical has worked to your strengths as a comedic actor?
Well, the best show for me, and the best setup on a production for me to do my best, is if everyone does their part. My darkest fear is when I walk in on a set and they go, “Oh, David, we didn’t really write dialogue for you because you’re so hilarious. You’ll just walk on the elevator and you’re going to talk for two pages. But you say whatever you want.” Most of the time, I don’t really have notes, or if I have notes with the writers, it’s, “Can I say less as opposed to more.? So, that’s kind of where I’m at in terms of my process on the show.
Can you talk about working in the documentary format?
It’s funny, I think as a convention, more than any other show, it makes the most sense that someone is actually doing a documentary about St. Denis. Because I’ve watched shows like Parks and Recreation and The Office, I’m always going, “Okay why are they doing this seven-year documentary? At St. Denis, it makes sense that Joyce set this thing up because she thinks it’s going to really boost our profile, So, that makes sense.
Something I pitched to Eric last season is seeing a version of the finished documentary. Now, maybe we’ll have to wait a few seasons, but I think it would be great to see a screening of some version of this is the film that they’ve been working on for all these years. That would be interesting.
It would. I completely agree with that. And you’re right, it makes the most sense for a doc to be set in a hospital. I mean, it’s a giant HIPAA violation, but beyond that…
Oh, yeah. But we have Joyce. You tell her that’s it’s a HIPAA violation, and she’s going to blow that off.
Can you talk about the challenges of prop acting? Because I feel like there’s more prop acting in this show than I’ve seen in a very long time. You guys are always keeping busy.
Well, it’s mostly medical stuff. We have two official surgical nurses that are on set all the time. And the last season, I’m going to say probably with each episode, half a dozen of our background actors were current or former health care workers. There was a woman who was a practicing doctor. So, if anything gets out of line, then we have more than enough voices to say, “You’re not holding that right. You would never put it down like this. You keep it in your hands,” and stuff like that.
The thing I get the most excitement out of is anything kind of ER-y, you know, those long tracking shots in the beginning of ER, they’re yelling out, “Blood pressure! Intubate! Stat!” The longer that goes, the more I love it.
Can you talk about working with Eric and Justin?
Well, real pain, you know? These are violent men. Actually, Eric told me we interviewed him when I did Chocolate News, and I didn’t hire him. So, you can only imagine that’s set up a lot of anger and vengeance. Much like the Shadour Sanders debacle. He’s going to teach me why I screwed up by not hiring him.
What are you hoping to see out of Ron in season two?
Well, I hope that they really show the audience Ron’s sexual prowess. His randy love life. I have often thought, “What is a first date with Ron like?” I think it would be disastrous. Like, like a dating app specifically for older doctors. That would be very interesting to me.
Well, David, I really appreciate you taking the time. It’s a real pleasure to talk to him. I’ve been a fan for a long time. Congratulations again, and good luck on season two.
Thank you. Great talking to you.
Season One of St. Denis Medical is currently streaming on Peacock.
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